Double Lives

From undercover field operatives to online anonymity, via lives led in the closet and large scale infidelity, Matthew Sweet discusses the what can prompt people to lead double lives. With: Ashleigh Percival-Borleigh, Radio 4 New Generation Thinker, former soldier and historian, researching the lives of under-cover agents during WW2 Lawrence Scott, literary critic and commentator on social media and the double lives people lead online Peter Parker, historian of gay life in Britain before homosexuality was decriminalized, has documented decades of lives lived in the closet Clare Carlisle, philosopher and biographer of Soren Kierkegaard, who thought there’s always a difference between our inner selves and the face we present to the world Plus the actress Ruth Wilson, whose 2018 drama Mrs Wilson unraveled the story of her own grandfather's multiple lives Producer: Luke Mulhall

You can listen to Double Lives online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Double Lives is an episode from Arts and Ideas by BBC.

This episode is 56:33 long.

This episode was published on Jan 23, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Arts and Ideas when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.